GOODWOOD, ENGLAND // Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed's Sea Lord scored a battling victory over Godolphin's Invisible Man in the Totesport Mile handicap yesterday under a tactically astute ride from jockey Royston Ffrench.
Ffrench, who was riding for Sheikh Hamdan's trainer Mark Johnston, sent Sea Lord into the lead from the off. Despite a persistent and sustained challenge from Frankie Dettori on Invisible Man, Sea Lord hung on by three-quarters of a length.
"It's very tough to win a race like that," Ffrench said. "Mr Johnston's horses do not know how to give in. I knew something was coming to challenge about a furlong and a half out but my fella found more and kept going."
With 19 runners careering around the contours of this Sussex track there is generally a melee in the home straight, but Dettori stalked his way through and found a dream run up the far rail two furlongs from home. The Italian looked to have a considerable amount of rein with which to work away at Sea Lord, but Ffrench had forced his mount to keep a little in reserve and pushed out.
"I am able to clock a race in my head," Ffrench said. "In a race like that you are talking about running 12 to 13 seconds a furlong in the early stages, and then up the tempo to around 10 or 11."
It was the fourth win in the race for Johnston, who also saddled Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum's Laa Rayb to victory last year. But the Scot used the moment to underline his anger at the poor prize-money in Britain for Pattern races, which earn horses black print in sales catalogues.
"My gut feeling is that Sea Lord shouldn't be in this kind of race," Johnston said.
"We have a terrible dilemma with a horse like this. Do we run in handicaps for the prize money or do we go for the Listed prize? The races for the best horses should carry the best prize money.
"What value is a Group race to this horse? What is black type really for?
"I know how good this horse is. What it comes down to is that I have to demonstrate, by prize money, race status, or by official rating, that the horse is of a certain level that it can be selected for the Dubai royal family's elite team. That process ultimately decides whether my horses go to Godolphin or go to race in Dubai."
Sea Lord picked up £72,840 (Dh420,500) for winning yesterday's race - formerly known as the Golden Mile - andJohnston revealed that the gutsy son of Cape Cross could well contest this afternoon's Listed Thoroughbred Stakes, a race for which the winner gets a comparatively paltry £28,385.
"He is declared to run tomorrow and, whether he can realistically do that, I will have to see. It is a possibility but it would be a lot to ask of him and we would be putting our heads on the block. There is the question of whether the incentive is there or if there is any chance of doing any damage to the horse. We have a bit of thinking to do."
sports@thenational.ae
UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Mohammed Al Attas
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
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Price: From Dh98,800
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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